


motive

by Miraphina Atherton (mew_tsubaki)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, M/M, Marauders' Era, and a little beyond that tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 11:13:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15266274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mew_tsubaki/pseuds/Miraphina%20Atherton
Summary: A lion through and through, Rufus won't let anyone or anything stand in front of his ambitions. Not even his past or his heart.





	motive

**Author's Note:**

> The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. Read, review, and enjoy!

> _"Oh why do people hurt each other and then make up?_
> 
> _Oh why do they part, just to meet again?"_
> 
> _—Yuna Ito, "trust you" (translation)_

Rufus Scrimgeour had been Sorted into Gryffindor House a year before trouble invaded the school. Trouble that went by the moniker of the "Marauders."

He couldn't stand them. Rufus refused to laugh at their practical jokes, which was tantamount to approving of them. As far as Rufus felt, they were no better than the Slytherins.

Well… Some Slytherins were better than others. Not all of them skulked about the castle as though they were getting into Dark Magic. Not all Slytherins were Bellatrix Black, Lucius Malfoy, or Rodolphus Lestrange.

Regulus Black came to mind.

Rufus had always thought him strange, a Black meant to be anywhere else besides Slytherin. It wasn't as though he were his brother, Sirius, and ought to have been Sorted into Gryffindor. But Regulus was a wanderer. He didn't really have a home.

Rufus questioned why and was sucked in.

Maybe it was the mystery part of the Black family tree that drew Rufus, but he couldn't leave well enough alone. Regulus Black was a more interesting enigma than anything Rufus had in any of his textbooks. This wasn't to say that Regulus let him in, but Rufus could keep an eye on him. He could look out for him.

And the crack in Regulus' mask was exposed.

Regulus perhaps felt he could trust Rufus. No, that wasn't quite the right word, but Regulus definitely felt as though he'd found a friend. It was relieving to talk to someone who wasn't bossing him around or asking him about his whereabouts and his actions. Regulus even walked the grounds with Rufus and complained about his brother to Rufus.

Regulus—albeit awkwardly and brazenly all at once—hit on Rufus.

It was a bit of a ridiculous exchange: a conversation of normal subject (schoolwork) that segued into a manly topic (snogging). Rufus preferred to forget their rocky start, even though he came to realize he didn't mind Regulus in that way at all.

However…then Regulus turned uncharacteristically shady and dodgy, even for him. He began to hide more, to lighten his footfall, to spend more time in the Slytherin dungeons. Even when Rufus panicked— _Rufus Scrimgeour_ , panicking! (look at what he had become)—when Regulus didn't meet him in the library anymore, Regulus kept insisting that everything was fine, everything was fine. The lion hoped it would be.

But he graduated first, leaving Regulus in the hands of those who didn't know him best. Rufus saw him once, in passing, and Regulus barely acknowledged him. But Rufus, training to become an Auror, had been able to drink in the split-second sight of him. And he knew it.

Regulus had been hiding his left arm. He'd gone and gotten the Dark Mark.

Rufus made sure to become an Auror to save Regulus. But when the years passed and Regulus wasn't even a whisper on the surviving Death Eaters' lips, Rufus knew it had been too late. So there was no use anymore; Rufus could set his sights on becoming the Minister for Magic.

He didn't do it to prevent others from becoming like Regulus…no, of course he didn't…

**Author's Note:**

> :'( This was sooo sad… Most Regulus stories are! Dx I just can't help it… *le sigh*
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> -mew-tsubaki :O
> 
> 2017 note: Ahhh, man. It rly would've been something if Regulus had managed to survive the first war, to reconcile with Sirius, to fight on the side of the light… ;w;


End file.
